Brokkenbroll said nothing. Deeba grew nervous.
“I mean, it might even be that whatever he wants to do isn’t even bad,” she gabbled. “But, it’s just…it probably isn’t great, because, I mean, why’d he lie? I don’t see why he’d tell everyone he’s Unstible when…he…isn’t…”
Her voice petered out. Still Brokkenbroll was silent. He read and reread the paper.
“So…” said Hemi. He and Deeba shared a glance.
“So,” Deeba said. “What should we do? Because, I mean I haven’t been here long, but it don’t look to me like it’s going that well. And if you can think of something to do…”
“Why did you come?” Brokkenbroll said at last. “Why would you make that journey?”
There was a long silence.
“I was worried,” Deeba said. Her voice grew quieter and quieter. “I found out something was weird, and I couldn’t…I just…I wanted to make sure UnLondon was okay.”
“You did the right thing,” Brokkenbroll said eventually. “I don’t like being made a fool of.”
“You can see why I called this meeting,” Murgatroyd said. “Why the minister insisted on getting to the bottom of this.”
“I need to know everything,” the Unbrellissimo said urgently, leaning suddenly down towards Deeba and making her jump. “I need to know what you know, how you worked it out, how you got hold of this.” He waved the printout, leaving a brief trail of spirit-paper.
“If we’re going to turn the tables I have to know exactly where we stand. We may not have much time.”
Deeba told him everything. How she had been curious, and researched the Armets, and found the RMetS, and talked to them. How her suspicions had grown with news of Unstible’s death. How she had tried to talk herself out of them, had not been able to, had eventually crossed over, and at last found proof in Wraithtown.
Brokkenbroll and Murgatroyd listened avidly.
“But how did you cross over?” Murgatroyd interrupted at one point. “There can’t be more than a handful of people in London who know how.”
“I read it somewhere,” Deeba said. “It was sort of a lucky guess.”
“But how?”
“I found a way in a library.” She didn’t explain further.
When Deeba finished, Brokkenbroll and Murgatroyd both stood silent for some time.
“That’s everything?” Murgatroyd said.
“Yeah.”
“It’s not too late,” Brokkenbroll said. “But whoever this man is, he’s going to realize soon that we’re onto him.”
“The liquid does seem to work,” Murgatroyd said.
“Oh, it works. It does what it’s supposed to. But as she says, perhaps it does something else as well. Obviously he has some other plan. We have to decide how to proceed. Deeba, Hemi…” Brokkenbroll knelt before them. “Who knows about this?”
They looked at each other.
“No one,” she said. “Only us here. Oh, and I said something to Obaday Fing. But…” Deeba made a hmph noise. “I don’t think he believed me.”
“Just them?” Brokkenbroll said. “No one else?”
Deeba shook her head. The Unbrellissimo smiled slowly.
“Good,” he said.
He loomed suddenly and threw back his arms and spread out like a bat-wing shadow. For a second it looked as if he himself were a broken umbrella, his arms and legs crooked metal, his overcoat taut as a canopy, and then he swooped down on Deeba and grabbed her so fast he took her breath away. He bundled her into his grip and she could not scream or speak or even breathe, and everything went dark.
49. Trussed
Deeba woke to voices.
“…was that? Not too much?”
“No, it was very good. ‘We don’t have time to waste!’ I liked that.” She heard laughter.
It was Brokkenbroll and Murgatroyd. Cautiously, Deeba opened her eyes a crack, but saw nothing. For a moment she thought it was night: then she realized that she was wearing a blindfold. She shook herself experimentally. She could not move.
“Deeba!” It was Hemi, speaking right behind her.
“Hemi,” she whispered. “Where are you? I think I’m tied up.”
“You are,” he said. “You’re tied to me.”
Now she could feel his spine against hers, his slight wriggles. They were tied back-to-back, sitting on the cold pavement.
“Murgatroyd grabbed me,” Hemi whispered. “While the unbrella man grabbed you. I can’t believe what you got me into!”
Deeba’s heart was racing. For a moment she thought she was afraid. Then she realized that she was, not surprisingly, but that more than that, she was furious.
“They tricked me,” she hissed, struggling hard and ineffectually. “Brokkenbroll’s in on it. They must’ve been trying to find out what we know. I’m such an idiot. Oh man. What are they going to do? Have you heard anything?”
“No. Just that they’ll find out quickly— I don’t know what they’ll find out— and Murgatroyd said he was on a schedule, and that people were counting on him. Hush a minute, I’m trying to…”
Something tugged at Deeba’s face. She stifled a scream, then wrinkled her nose at a sudden smell of off milk.
“Curdle?” she said. Curdle clamped her blindfold in its opening and tugged, pulling it down and uncovering her eyes. “Good carton,” she whispered. It shook enthusiastically and rolled onto her lap.
Brokkenbroll and Murgatroyd were talking, by the wall. They were lit by the dancing orange of a fire that Deeba could hear behind her. She thought she heard another sound, too. Very faintly, the padding of footsteps. They circled a little way away.
“Can you hear that?” she whispered. “Who’s by the fire?”
“I can’t see squat,” muttered Hemi. “I’m blindfolded.”
Curdle gnawed at the ropes fastened around them, but its cardboard flaps made no impact at all.
“We got to get out of here,” Deeba said. “We got to warn the Propheseers. We got to warn everyone. Whatever that fake Unstible’s doing, this lot are in on it.”
“Hello,” said a voice. Brokkenbroll and Murgatroyd had seen her, and were walking over. Curdle froze, lay hidden between Deeba and Hemi.
“How did you get your blindfold off?” Brokkenbroll continued. “You’re awake. That’s excellent. There are some things we need to ask you.”
“Who have you told?”
“I already said,” Deeba said. “No one.”
“Maybe I should go back to the market,” Murgatroyd said. “Have a word with that tailor.”
“Not a bad thought,” Brokkenbroll said.
“Leave him alone!” said Deeba. “I already told you, he didn’t believe me.”
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” Brokkenbroll said. “You see, the thing is, in not very long at all, it won’t make any difference. The unbrellas are still coming through every day, and those fools are lining up like baby birds to take them from me. Within a few weeks, everyone’ll have one, and by then whatever you know or think you know and whatever anyone believes or doesn’t won’t make an iota of difference. But I dislike being preempted. As do my associates. So we’re keen to make sure that nothing complicates matters.”
Deeba stared at Brokkenbroll furiously and resolved not to say a word to him. He raised an eyebrow.
“Well,” he said. “That particular expression you’re wearing is almost alarming. I’d be intimidated. If I weren’t, you know, incomparably more powerful than you.”
He snarled the last words, suddenly lunging at her. Deeba could not help but jump, which enraged her even more.
“It’s so foolish,” Brokkenbroll said. “This whole thing was unnecessary. I did you so many favors!” He sounded seriously aggrieved.